On This Day in History - April 1 pril Foil's Day

Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

Apr 1, 1700: April Fools tradition popularized

On this day in 1700, English pranksters begin popularizing the annual tradition of April Fools' Day by playing practical jokes on each other.  

Although the day, also called All Fools' Day, has been celebrated for several centuries by different cultures, its exact origins remain a mystery. Some historians speculate that April Fools' Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563. People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes. These included having paper fish placed on their backs and being referred to as "poisson d'avril" (April fish), said to symbolize a young, easily caught fish and a gullible person.  

Historians have also linked April Fools' Day to ancient festivals such as Hilaria, which was celebrated in Rome at the end of March and involved people dressing up in disguises. There's also speculation that April Fools' Day was tied to the vernal equinox, or first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, when Mother Nature fooled people with changing, unpredictable weather.  

April Fools' Day spread throughout Britain during the 18th century. In Scotland, the tradition became a two-day event, starting with "hunting the gowk," in which people were sent on phony errands (gowk is a word for cuckoo bird, a symbol for fool) and followed by Tailie Day, which involved pranks played on people's derrieres, such as pinning fake tails or "kick me" signs on them.  

In modern times, people have gone to great lengths to create elaborate April Fools' Day hoaxes. Newspapers, radio and TV stations and Web sites have participated in the April 1 tradition of reporting outrageous fictional claims that have fooled their audiences. In 1957, the BBC reported that Swiss farmers were experiencing a record spaghetti crop and showed footage of people harvesting noodles from trees; numerous viewers were fooled. In 1985, Sports Illustrated tricked many of its readers when it ran a made-up article about a rookie pitcher named Sidd Finch who could throw a fastball over 168 miles per hour. In 1996, Taco Bell, the fast-food restaurant chain, duped people when it announced it had agreed to purchase Philadelphia's Liberty Bell and intended to rename it the Taco Liberty Bell. In 1998, after Burger King advertised a "Left-Handed Whopper," scores of clueless customers requested the fake sandwich.










Apr 1, 1621: The Pilgrim-Wampanoag peace treaty

At the Plymouth settlement in present-day Massachusetts, the leaders of the Plymouth colonists, acting on behalf of King James I, make a defensive alliance with Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoags. The agreement, in which both parties promised to not "doe hurt" to one another, was the first treaty between a Native American tribe and a group of American colonists. According to the treaty, if a Wampanoag broke the peace, he would be sent to Plymouth for punishment; if a colonist broke the law, he would likewise be sent to the Wampanoags.  

In November 1620, the Mayflower arrived in the New World, carrying 101 English settlers, commonly known as the pilgrims. The majority of the pilgrims were Puritan Separatists, who traveled to America to escape the jurisdiction of the Church of England, which they believed violated the biblical precepts of true Christians. After coming to anchor in what is today Provincetown harbor in the Cape Cod region of Massachusetts, a party of armed men under the command of Captain Myles Standish was sent to explore the immediate area and find a location suitable for settlement. In December, the explorers went ashore in Plymouth, where they found cleared fields and plentiful running water; a few days later the Mayflower came to anchor in Plymouth harbor, and settlement began.  

The first direct contact with a Native American was made in March 1621, and soon after, Chief Massasoit paid a visit to the settlement. After an exchange of greetings and gifts, the two peoples signed a peace treaty that lasted for more than 50 years.












Apr 1, 1924: Beer Hall Putsch secures Hitler's rise to power    

Adolf Hitler is sentenced for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch of November 8, 1923. The attempted coup in Munich by right-wing members of the army and the Nazi Party was foiled by the government, and Hitler was charged with high treason. Despite his conviction, Hitler was out of jail before the end of the year, with his political position stronger than ever.  

Germany was in the midst of a national crisis in the early 1920s. After World War I, its economy was in shambles, and hyperinflation caused widespread discontent. Hitler and the Nazis stepped into this breach with often-racist demagoguery that attracted a significant following throughout the nation.  

The failed coup turned out to be quite a boon for Adolf Hitler. His trial brought him more attention and publicity than ever before. With a crowd of thousands-including press from around the world-watching the proceedings, Hitler made the most of this opportunity by going on the offensive.  

Taking every chance to turn the subject away from the putsch itself, Hitler frequently made speeches about Germany's postwar plight. He blamed the Jews, Marxism, and France for all of the country's problems, repeatedly returning to his theme of hypernationalism. The conservative-leaning judges did nothing to stop Hitler or keep the focus on the attempted coup. The prosecutors, who had been threatened by Hitler's student followers, shrank from challenging the defendant.  

It soon became evident that Hitler was winning the public relations battle by using the 25-day trial as a showcase for his extreme right-wing views, even if he was technically losing the case. In his closing argument, Hitler declared that he would ignore the court's verdict because the "Eternal Court of History" would acquit him.  

After his conviction, Hitler spent the remainder of the year in prison writing the first volume of Mein Kampf. By the time he was released, he had become more popular than ever, and within eight years he had taken over Germany.












Apr 1, 1984: Marvin Gaye is shot and killed by his own father

At the peak of his career, Marvin Gaye was the Prince of Motown—the soulful voice behind hits as wide-ranging as "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" and "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)." Like his label-mate Stevie Wonder, Gaye both epitomized and outgrew the crowd-pleasing sound that made Motown famous. Over the course of his roughly 25-year recording career, he moved successfully from upbeat pop to "message" music to satin-sheet soul, combining elements of Smokey Robinson, Bob Dylan and Barry White into one complicated and sometimes contradictory package. But as the critic Michael Eric Dyson put it, the man who "chased away the demons of millions...with his heavenly sound and divine art" was chased by demons of his own throughout his life. That life came to a tragic end on this day 1984, when Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his own father one day short of his 45th birthday.  

If the physical cause of Marvin Gaye's death was straightforward—"Gunshot wound to chest perforating heart, lung and liver," according to the Los Angeles County Coroner—the events that led to it were much more tangled. On the one hand, there was the longstanding conflict with his father dating back to childhood. Marvin Gay, Sr., (the "e" was added by his son for his stage name) was a preacher in the Hebrew Pentecostal Church and a proponent of a strict moral code he enforced brutally with his four children. He was also, by all accounts, a hard-drinking cross-dresser who personally embodied a rather complicated model of morality. By some reports, Marvin Sr. harbored significant envy over his son's tremendous success, and Marvin Jr. clearly harbored unresolved feelings toward his abusive father.  

Those feelings spilled out for the final time in the Los Angeles home of Marvin Gay, Sr., and his wife Alberta. Their son the international recording star had moved into his parents' home in late 1983 at a low point in his struggle with depression, debt and cocaine abuse. Only one year removed from his first Grammy win and from a triumphant return to the pop charts with "Sexual Healing," Marvin Gaye was in horrible physical, psychological and financial shape, and now he found himself living in the same house as the man who must have been at the root of many of his struggles.  

After an argument between father and son escalated into a physical fight on the morning of April 1, 1984, Alberta Gay was trying to calm her son in his bedroom when Marvin Sr. took a revolver given to him by Marvin Jr. and shot him three times in his chest. Marvin Gaye's brother, Frankie, who lived next door, and who held the legendary singer during his final minutes, later wrote in his memoir that Marvin Gaye's final, disturbing statement was, "I got what I wanted....I couldn't do it myself, so I made him do it."

Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:

374 - Comet 1P/374 E1 (Halley) approaches within 0.0884 AUs of Earth

527 - Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne

705 - Greek pope John VII chosen as successor to John VI

1064 - Body of bishop Eleutherius of Blandain moved to Doornik

1318 - Berwick-upon-Tweed is captured by the Scottish from the English.

1340 - Niels Ebbesen kills Gerhard III of Holstein in his bedroom, ending the 1332-1340 interregnum in Denmark.

1504 - English guilds/corp goes under state control

1572 - Watergeuzen capture Brielle from the Spaniards, during the Eighty Years' War, gaining the first foothold on land for what would become the Dutch Republic.

1581 - Portugese Cortes subjects himself on Philip II

1663 - Gemert fines unwed motherhood (50 guilder penalty)

1724 - Henry Pelham becomes English minister of War

1724 - Jonathan Swift publishes Drapier's letters

1748 - Ruins of Pompeii found

1776 - Friedrich von Klinger's "Sturm und Drang," premieres in Leipzig

1778 - Oliver Pollock, a New Orleans businessman, creates "$" symbol

1789 - House of Reps 1st full meeting, NYC, F Muhlenberg 1st speaker

1792 - Gronings feminist Etta Palm demands women's right to divorce

1793 - Volcano Unsen on Japan erupts killing about 53,000

1803 - French law rules the use of intention

Satirist Jonathan SwiftSatirist Jonathan Swift 1826 - Samuel Mory patents internal combustion engine

1836 - Charles Darwin aboard HMS Beagle reaches Cocos Islands

1850 - SF County government established

1853 - Cincinnati became 1st US city to pay fire fighters a regular salary

1854 - Hard Times begins serialisation in Charles Dickens magazine, Household Words.

1857 - Herman Melville publishes The Confidence-Man.

1862 - Shenandoah Valley campaign, Jackson's Battle of Woodstock, VA

1863 - 1st wartime conscription law in US goes into effect

1865 - -9] Battle at Blakely Alabama

1865 - Battle of 5 Forks Virginia, signalling end of Lee's army

1866 - US Congress rejects presidential veto giveing all equal rights in US

1867 - Blacks vote in municipal election in Tuscumbia, Alabama

1867 - International Exhibition opens in Paris

1867 - Singapore, Penang & Malakka become British crown colonies

1868 - Hampton Institute opens

Moby Dick Author Herman MelvilleMoby Dick Author Herman Melville 1872 - 1st edition of The Standard

1873 - British White Star steamship Atlantic sinks off Nova Scotia, 547 die

1873 - Mehmed Kemals play "Vatan" premeres in Constantinople

1876 - 1st official NL baseball game (Boston-6, Phila-5)

1881 - Anti-Jewish riots in Jerusalem

1881 - Kingdom post office in Netherlands opens

1888 - Soccer team Sparta forms in Rotterdam

1889 - 1st dishwashing machine marketed (Chicago)

1891 - London-Paris telephone connection opens

1891 - Painter Gauguin leaves Marseille for Tahiti

1891 - The Wrigley Company is founded in Chicago, Illinois.

1899 - NC Mutual opens doors for business

1900 - 1st edition of Dutch newspaper "The People"

1905 - British East African Protectorate becomes colony of Kenya

1910 - Dumitru Dan (Romania) completes a 62,137 mile (100,000 m) walk

1912 - The Greek athlete Konstantinos Tsiklitiras breaks the world record -in standing long jump jumping 3.47 meters.

1914 - UVS Soccer team forms in Lead

1916 - 1st US national women's swiming championships held

1918 - United Kingdom's Royal Flying Corps replaced by Royal Air Force

Author Henry MillerAuthor Henry Miller 1918 - Henry Miller's Theater opens at 124 W 43rd St NYC

1920 - Church disforms in Wales

1920 - Stanley Cup: Ottawa Senators (NHL) beat Seattle (PCHA), 3 games to 2

1924 - Crown takes over Northern Rhodesia from British South Africa Co

1924 - Hitler sentenced to 5 years labor but Gen Ludendorff acquitted

1924 - Imperial Airways forms in Britain

1924 - The Royal Canadian Air Force is formed.

1925 - 1st transmission of Danish state radio

1925 - Hebrew University, Jerusalem dedicated [see May 9, 1925]

1926 - Halsteren Soccer team forms in Halsteren

1927 - 1st automatic record changer introduced by His Master's Voice

1928 - Chiang Kai-shek's army crosses Yang-tse

1929 - Austrian government of Ignaz Seipel falls

1929 - Doorne's trailer factory in Einsdhoven Netherlands opens

1929 - Louie Marx introduces Yo-Yo

Dictator of Nazi Germany Adolf HitlerDictator of Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler 1929 - Luis Buñuel releases "Un Chien Andalou," 24-minute film

1929 - Morehouse College, Spellman College & Atlanta University affiliate

1930 - "Blue Angel," starring unknown Marlene Dietrich, premieres in America

1931 - Earthquake devastate Managua Nicaragua, kills 2,000

1931 - Jackie Mitchell became 1st female in professional baseball

1933 - Hammond scores 336* v NZ at Auckland, 47 fours 10 sixes

1933 - Heinrich Himmler becomes Police Commander of Germany

1933 - Nazi Germany begins persecution of Jews boycotting Jewish businesses

1934 - Bonnie & Clyde kill 2 police officers

1935 - 1st radio tube made of metal announced, Schenectady, NY

1936 - Orissa constituted a province of British India

1937 - Aden becomes British crown colony

1938 - Baseball Hall of Fame opens in Cooperstown, NY

1938 - Joe Louis KOs Harry Thomas in 5 for heavyweight boxing title

1939 - US recognizes Franco government in Spain at end of Spanish civil war Pope Pius XII congratulates Generalissimo Franco's victory in Spain

Spanish Dictator and General Francisco FrancoSpanish Dictator and General Francisco Franco 1941 - Lillian Hellman's "Watch on the Rhine," premieres in NYC

1941 - Navy takes over Treasure Island (SF Bay)

1941 - Nazi's forbid Jews access to cafés

1941 - Pro-German Rashid Ali al-Ghailani grabs power in Iraq

1941 - The Blockade Runner Badge for German navy is instituted.

1942 - Allied air raid on harbor city Kupang Timor

1942 - Mexico changes from 3 time zones to 2

1944 - German Abwehr ends England spiel, after 132 killed

1944 - Japanese troops conquer Jessami, East-India

1945 - 1st edition of Indonesia Merdeka publishes

1945 - Canadian troop free Doetinchem, Enschede, Borculo & Eibergen

1945 - Ruhrgebied sealed off by US 1st & 9th army

1945 - Sons of Elburger Soccer team forms in Elburg

1945 - US forces invade Okinawa during WW II

1946 - 400,000 US mine workers strike

1946 - Tsunamis generated by a quake in Aleutian Trench strike Hilo Hawaii

1946 - Van Acker forms Belgian government (without CVP)

1946 - Weight Watchers forms

1946 - Formation of the Malayan Union.

1947 - 1st Jewish immigrants to Israel disembark at Port of Eilat

1948 - H H H Johnson bowls WI to win v England 10-96 match on debut

1948 - Faroe Islands receive autonomy from Denmark.

1952 - Big Bang theory proposed in Physical Review by Alpher, Bethe & Gamow

1952 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1953 - J van Bale appointed governor of New Guinea

1953 - KXMC TV channel 13 in Minot, ND (CBS/ABC) begins broadcasting

1953 - Walcott Worrell & Weekes all make centuries in innings v India

1954 - 1st Dutch motorway, Amsterdam-Utrecht, opens

1954 - 1st army helicopter battalion forms, Fort Bragg, NC

1954 - Earthquake/tsunami ravage Aleutians, 200 killed

1954 - US Air Force Academy forms

1954 - WQED TV channel 13 in Pittsburgh, PA (PBS) begins broadcasting

1955 - Armed military action taken against bureaucratic strike in Amsterdam

1955 - EOKA-bomb attacks against British government buildings in Cyprus

1955 - WTVT TV channel 13 in Tampa-St Petersburg, FL (CBS) 1st broadcast

1956 - 10th Tony Awards: Diary of Anne Frank & Damn Yankees win

1956 - KPIC TV channel 4 in Roseburg, OR (CBS) begins broadcasting

1956 - Violent clashes in Algeria, kills at least 380

1957 - Trial begins in Budapest against participants october uprising

1957 - WYES TV channel 12 in New Orleans, LA (PBS) begins broadcasting

1957 - World's biggest glass oven used

1958 - KVIQ TV channel 6 in Eureka, CA (NBC/ABC/CBS) begins broadcasting

1958 - Marshal Boelganin becomes director of Russian Staatsbank

1960 - Census determines the resident population of the United States to be 179,245,000

1960 - 2nd French atom bomb explodes (Sahara)

1960 - France performs nuclear test at Reggane Proving Grounds Algeria

1960 - Mabry Harper catches a 25 lb Walleye in Tennessee

1960 - U Nu elected premier of Burma

1960 - 1st weather satellite launched (TIROS 1)

1963 - NY Mets purchase Duke Snider from the Dodgers for $40,000

1963 - NYC's newspapers resume publishing after a 114 day strike

1963 - Soap operas "General Hospital" & "Doctors" premier on TV

1964 - 10°F lowest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in April

Musician and Beatle John LennonMusician and Beatle John Lennon 1964 - John Lennon is reunited with his father Freddie after 17 years

1964 - Robert Lowell's "Benito Cereno," premieres in NYC

1965 - South Africa worker's union leader Henry Fazzie sentenced to 10 years

1965 - Syncom 3, 1st geosynchronous communications satellite, passes from civilian to military control

1966 - 1st world festival of black art (Dakar Senegal)

1966 - China premier Tsjoe en-Lai starts "Cultural revolution"

1967 - 1st British ombudsman sir Edward Compton begins work

1967 - The United States Department of Transportation begins operation.

1968 - KEMO (now KOFY) TV channel 20 in San Francisco, CA (IND) 1st broadcast

1969 - Royal Canadian Mint formally forms as a Crown Corp

1969 - Seattle Pilots trade minor league outfielder Lou Piniella to Royals

1969 - The Hawker Siddeley Harrier enters service with the RAF.

1970 - Bud Selig becomes CEO of Milwaukee Brewers

1970 - John & Yoko release hoax they are having dual sex change operations

1970 - Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club, headed by Bud Selig, purchases the Seattle Pilots for $10,800,000 Although negotiations were conducted over a period of months, it was not until March 13 when a federal bankruptcy referee declared the Pilots bankrupt

1970 - Pres Nixon signs bill limiting cigarette advertisements on 1/1/71

1971 - US/Canada ISIS 2 launched to study ionosphere

1971 - United Kingdom lifts all restrictions on gold ownership

1972 - 30,000 attend Mar Y Sol rock concert, Vega Baja, Puerto Rico

1972 - Major league baseball players stages 1st collective strike

1973 - Betsy Cullen wins LPGA Alamo Ladies Golf Classic

1973 - Japan allows its citizens to own gold

1973 - John & Yoko form a new country with no laws or boundaries, called Nutopia, its national anthem is silence

1974 - Ayatollah Khomeini calls for an Islamic Republic in Iran

1974 - Pioneer Hall opens

1974 - Yourdon, Inc forms

1974 - In the United Kingdom, the Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties come into being.

1975 - Cambodia President Lon Nol flees for Red Khmer

Apple Co-founder Steve JobsApple Co-founder Steve Jobs 1976 - Stephen Wozniak & Steven Jobs found Apple Computer

1976 - Conrail takes over operations from six bankrupt railroads in the northeastern U.S..

1976 - Jovian-Plutonian gravitational effect is first reported by the astronomer Patrick Moore.

1977 - Attempt for Moslem state in Chad fails

1977 - NFL decides to experiment with a 7th official in some preseason games

1978 - Philippine College of Commerce, through a presidential decree, becomes the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

1979 - Iran proclaimed an Islamic Republic following fall of Shah

1979 - Joanne Carner wins LPGA Women's Kemper Golf Open

1980 - Baseball Players' Association votes to cancel 92 remaining exhibition games

1980 - Failed assassination attempt on Iraqi vice-premier Tariq Aziz

1980 - France performs nuclear test

1980 - Wayne Gretzky breaks Bobby Orr's record with 103rd assist

1980 - New York City's Transit Worker Union 100 begins a strike lasting 11 days.

1981 - CNN airs a videotape that shows that Tamara Rand predicted that Reagan is in danger from someone named Jack Humley (a hoax)

1981 - Daylight saving time is introduced in the USSR.

US President & Actor Ronald ReaganUS President & Actor Ronald Reagan 1982 - Anguilla (dependent territory of UK) adopts constitution

1982 - US formally transfers Canal Zone to Panama

1983 - Anti-nuke demonstrators link arms in 14-mile human chain in England

1983 - NY Isle Mike Bossy becomes 1st to score 60 goals in 3 cons seasons

1984 - 14th Easter Seal Telethon raises $24,600,000

1984 - 3rd NCAA Womens Basketball Championship: Southern Cal beats Tenn 72-61

1984 - 8 men record longest distance (13 miles) rowed in 24 hours

1985 - 47th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Villanova beats Georgetown 84-75

1986 - Delhi beat Haryana by innings & 141 to win Ranji Trophy

1986 - US sub Nathaniel Green runs aground in Irish Sea

1986 - World oil prices dip below $10 a barrel

1989 - 1st NY Met-NY Yankee game in NYC since 1983, Yanks win 4-3

1989 - A Bartlett Giamatti replaces Ueberroth as 7th commissioner of baseball

1990 - "Ha!" comedy Channel on cable TV begins transmitting

1990 - 19th Nabisco Dinah Shore Golf Championship won by Betsy King

1990 - 2nd Seniors Golf Tradition: Jack Nicklaus wins

1990 - 9th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Stanford beats Auburn 88-81

1990 - CBS fires sportscaster Brent Mussburger

1990 - It becomes illegal in Salem Oregon to be within 2' of nude dancers

1990 - Jack Nicklaus wins 1st start on Senior PGA tour

1990 - Wrestlemania VI, 67,678 in Toronto, Ultimate Warrior beats Hulk Hogan

1991 - 53rd NCAA Mens Basketball Championship: Duke Bluedevils beats Kansas 72-65

1991 - Dwight Gooden signs $5.15 million 3 year contract with NY Mets

1991 - Iran releases British hostage Roger Cooper after 5 years

1991 - Supreme Court rules jurors can't be barred from serving due to race

1991 - US minimum wage goes from $3.80 to $4.25 per hour

1991 - Warsaw Pact officially dissolves

1992 - 5th Largest wrestling crowd (64,287-Toronto SkyDome)

1992 - Battleship USS Missouri (on which, Japan surrendered) decommissioned

1992 - Last defendant in St John sex assault case sentenced to 3 yrs prob

1992 - NFL decides to stay with 17 week sched instead of expanded 18 games

1992 - NHL players begin 1st strike in 75-year history

1992 - Rocker Billy Idol fined $2,000 for hitting a woman

1992 - WA beat NSW by 44 runs to win the Sheffield Shield Final

1992 - World's 7 wealthiest nations agree on $24B aid for former USSR

1993 - Alan Bennett's "Madness of George III," premieres in London

1994 - Bob Feller Statue on Indians Plaza, dedicated

1995 - Carlson Wagonlit Travel Agency begins charging $15 service fee

1995 - NY Islanders retire Bobby Nystrom's uniform #23

1996 - 58th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Kentucky beats Syracuse 76-67

1996 - Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Boston MA on WBCN 104.1 FM (morn)

1996 - The Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia is created.

1997 - 69 year old Gordie Howe begins playing AHL game with Syracuse Crunch

1997 - Comet Hale-Bopp Perihelion (0.914 AU)

1998 - World Ice Pairs Figure Skating Championship in Minn

1999 - Nunavut is established as a Canadian territory carved out of the eastern part of the Northwest Territories.

2001 - 20th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: at St Louis

2001 - Same-sex marriage becomes legal in the Netherlands, which is the first country to allow it.

2001 - Former president of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milošević surrenders to police special forces, to be tried on charges of war crimes.

2002 - 64th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: at Georgia Dome Atlanta

2002 - The Netherlands legalizes euthanasia, becoming the first nation in the world to do so.

2004 - Google introduces its Gmail product to the public. The launch is met with scepticism on account of the launch date.

2006 - The Serious Organised Crime Agency, dubbed the 'British FBI', is created in the United Kingdom.

2009 - Croatia and Albania joined NATO

2011 - After protests against the burning of the Quran turned violent, a mob attacked a United Nations compound in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan and killed thirteen people, including eight foreign workers.

2012 - Plane crash in Western Siberia kills at least 31 people ( UTair Aviation ATR-72)

2012 - 32nd Golden Raspberry Awards: Jack and Jill wins

2013 - 9 people are killed by a suicide bombing in Tikrit, Iraq

2013 - The world’s first smelling TV screen is unveiled in Japan



0527 - Justinianus became the emperor of Byzantium.   1572 - The Sea Beggars under Guillaume de la Marck landed in Holland and captured the small town of Briel.   1578 - William Harvey of England discovered blood circulation.   1621 - The Plymouth, MA, colonists created the first treaty with Native Americans.   1724 - Jonathan Swift published Drapier's letters.   1748 - The ruins of Pompeii were found.   1778 - Oliver Pollock, a New Orleans businessman, created the "$" symbol.   1789 - The U.S. House of Representatives held its first full meeting in New York City. Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania was elected the first House Speaker.   1793 - In Japan, the volcano Unsen erupted killing about 53,000.   1826 - Samuel Mory patented the internal combustion engine.   1853 - Cincinnati became the first U.S. city to pay fire fighters a regular salary.   1863 - The first wartime conscription law goes into effect in the U.S.   1864 - The first travel accident policy was issued to James Batterson by the Travelers Insurance Company.   1865 - At the Battle of Five Forks in Petersburg, VA, Gen. Robert E. Lee began his final offensive.   1867 - Blacks voted in the municipal election in Tuscumbia, AL.   1867 - The International Exhibition opened in Paris.   1867 - Singapore, Penang & Malakka became British crown colonies.   1868 - The Hampton Institute opened.   1872 - The first edition of "The Standard" was published.   1873 - The British White Star steamship Atlantic sank off Nova Scotia killing 547.   1873 - Mehmed Kemals play "Vatan" premiered in Constantinople.   1881 - Anti-Jewish riots took place in Jerusalem.   1881 - Kingdom post office in Netherlands opened.   1889 - The first dishwashing machine was marketed (in Chicago).   1891 - The London-Paris telephone connection opened.   1905 - The British East African Protectorate became the colony of Kenya.   1905 - Paris and Berlin were linked by telephone.   1916 - The first U.S. national women's swimming championships were held.   1918 - England's Royal Flying Corps was replaced by the Royal Air Force.   1924 - Adolf Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison for high treason in relation to the "Beer Hall Putsch."   1924 - Imperial Airways was formed in Britain.   1927 - The first automatic record changer was introduced by His Master's Voice.   1928 - China's Chiang Kai-shek began attacking communists.   1929 - Louie Marx introduced the Yo-Yo.   1930 - Leo Hartnett of the Chicago Cubs broke the altitude record for a catch by catching a baseball dropped from the Goodyear blimp 800 feet over Los Angeles, CA.   1931 - An Earthquake devastated Managua Nicaragua killing 2,000.   1931 - Jackie Mitchell became the first female in professional baseball when she signed with the Chattanooga Baseball Club.   1933 - Nazi Germany began the persecution of Jews by boycotting Jewish businesses.   1934 - Bonnie & Clyde killed 2 police officers.   1935 - The first radio tube to be made of metal was announced.   1937 - Aden became a British colony.   1938 - The first commercially successful fluorescent lamps were introduced.   1938 - The Baseball Hall of Fame opened in Cooperstown, NY.   1939 - The U.S. recognized the Franco government in Spain at end of Spanish civil war.   1941 - The first contract for advertising on a commercial FM radio station began on W71NY in New York City.   1945 - U.S. forces invaded Okinawa during World War II. It was the last campaign of World War II.   1946 - Weight Watchers was formed.   1946 - A tidal wave (tsunami) struck the Hawaiian Islands killing more than 170 people.   1948 - The Berlin Airlift began.   1949 - "Happy Pappy" premiered. It was the first all-black-cast variety show.   1950 - Italian Somalia became a United Nations trust territory under Italian administration.   1952 - The Big Bang theory was proposed in "Physical Review" by Alpher, Bethe & Gamow.   1953 - The U.S. Congress created the Department of Health Education and Welfare.   1954 - The U.S. Air Force Academy was formed in Colorado.   1955 - "One Man's Family" was seen on TV for the final time after a six-year run on NBC-TV.   1960 - France exploded 2 atom bombs in the Sahara Desert.   1960 - The U.S. launched TIROS-1. It was the first weather satellite.   1963 - Workers of the International Typographical Union ended their strike that had closed nine New York City newspapers. The strike ended 114 days after it began on December 8, 1962.   1963 - The Soap operas "General Hospital" and "Doctors" premiered on television.   1970 - The U.S. Army charged Captain Ernest Medina in the My Lai massacre.   1970 - U.S. President Nixon signed the bill, the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act, that banned cigarette advertisements to be effective on January 1, 1971.   1971 - The United Kingdom lifted all restrictions on gold ownership.   1972 - North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops renewed their offensive in South Vietnam.   1973 - Japan allowed its citizens to own gold.   1976 - Apple Computer began operations.   1979 - Iran was proclaimed to be an Islamic Republic by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after the fall of the Shah.   1980 - A failed assassination attempt against Iraqi vice-premier Tariq Aziz occurred.   1982 - The U.S. transferred the Canal Zone to Panama.   1983 - New York Islander Mike Bossy became the first National Hockey League (NHL) player to score 60 goals in 3 consecutive seasons.   1985 - World oil prices dropped below $10 a barrel.   1986 - The U.S. submarine Nathaniel Green ran aground in the Irish Sea.   1987 - Steve Newman became the first man to walk around the world. The walk was 22,000 miles and took 4 years.   1987 - U.S. President Reagan told doctors in Philadelphia, "We've declared AIDS public health enemy No. 1."   1991 - Iran released British hostage Roger Cooper after 5 years.   1991 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that jurors could not be barred from serving due to their race.   1991 - The Warsaw Pact was officially dissolved.   1992 - Players began the first strike in the 75-year history of the National Hockey League (NHL).   1996 - U.S. President Bill Clinton threw out the first ball preceding a game between the Kansas City Royals and the Baltimore Orioles.   1997 - David Carradine received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.   1998 - A federal judge dismissed the Paula Jones' sexual harassment lawsuit against U.S. President Clinton saying that the claims fell "far short" of being worthy of a trial.   1999 - In Zhytomyr, Ukraine, Anatoliy Onoprienko was sentenced to death for the deaths of 52 men, women and children. 43 of the killings occurred in a 6-month period.   1999 - The Canadian territory of Nunavut was created. It was carved from the eastern part of the Northwest Territories and covered about 772,000 square miles.   2001 - China began holding 24 crewmembers of a U.S. surveillance plane. The EP-3E U.S. Navy crew had made an emergency landing after an in-flight collision with a Chinese fighter jet. The Chinese pilot was missing and presumed dead. The U.S. crew was released on April 11, 2001.   2001 - Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was arrested on corruption charges after a 26-hour standoff with the police at his Belgrade villa.   2003 - North Korea test-fired an anti-ship missile off its west coast.   2003 - Jason Mewes was ordered to complete drug rehabilitation or face five years in jail stemming from a drug conviction in 1999.   2004 - U.S. President George W. Bush signed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. The bill made it a crime to harm a fetus during an assault on a pregnant woman.   2004 - Gateway Inc. announced that it would be closing all of its 188 stores on April 9.   2009 - Albania and Croatia joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).   2010 - The U.S. Congress cut Medicare reimbursements to physicians by 21%.

1789 Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania was elected the first Speaker of the House of Representatives. 1933 The Nazi persecution of Jews began in Germany with a boycott of Jewish businesses. 1945 American forces landed on Okinawa during World War II. 1960 The first U.S. weather satellite, TIROS-1, was launched from Cape Canaveral. 1970 President Nixon signed a bill into law banning cigarette ads from radio and television. 1976 Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs founded Apple Computer. 1979 Ayatollah Khomeini proclaimed the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran. 2001 Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic arrested on corruption charges. 2003 Pvt. Jessica Lynch was rescued by U.S. commandos in a raid on an Iraqi hospital. 2004 President Bush signed the "Laci Peterson" bill making it a separate federal crime to harm a fetus during an attack on the mother. 2009 Sweden becomes the fifth European country to legalize same-sex marriage. The other countries with the same rights are The Netherlands, Norway, Belgium and Spain.

The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:

http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php

http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/apr01.htm

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory